Staple



July 6, 1943. 1 WEISS 2,323,362

STAPLE Filed Jan. 7, 1941 Patented July 6, 1943 zszssaz UNITED S'lAT'ES PATENT OFFICE amass sum Leo Weiss, Brooklyn, N. 1!. Application January 1, 1941, Serial No. 873,487 12 Claims. (Cl. 174-159) The present invention relates to a wire staple. More particularly, the present invention relates to a staple adapted to carry insulation and the like and especially applicable for securing wires and the like to material capable of receiving a driven staple member as. for example, wood, molding, walls, etc.

Although staples which carry insulation are well known in the art, these staples in general either did not securely hold the insulation or were provided with various complicated structures especially designed to hold the insulation and prevent accidental removal thereof. Prior art structures of this character when formed of metal were wasteful of the material and were rather diificult to use. In cases where an ordinary two-point wire staple was used for the purpose and driven into relatively hard molding and the like, it has been found very difllcult to drive the staple at the proper angle into the molding. Obviously a hammer blow on the cross piece Joining the two legs ofthe staple would driveeither one leg or the other leg downwardly with greater force, depending on just where the hammer struck the cross piece. Further, it was necessary to position the wire under the staple prior to driving the same and, in many instances, the staple was driven through the insulation of the wire, resulting in undue wear thereof and eventually in a short circuit.

Further, the ordinary cross piece has been found to have an insufllcient strength to receive the hammer blow and. in many instances, a blow of the hammer distorted the entire staple and made it unfit for use.

Although it has been proposed to provide an ordinary wire staple with a twisted head structure, it has been found that a head structure of this type is not a great deal better than no head structure at all, inasmuch as the twisted head did not receive the blow of the hammer in direct compression throughout its parts and could be easiLv distorted. Where it was attempted to form i this staple of ordinary wire of round cross section, it has also been found that the strength has been insufilcient and the point thereof was difficult to fabricate.

It is one of the objects of the present invention, therefore, to provide a staple formed of wire having a substantially rectangular cross section so that the point thereof may be easily formed without waste.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a staple having means thereon to retain suitable insulating material.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a staple having a head structure formed integrally of the wire thereof, bent back on itself to form a protruding and reinforced head.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a staple having a point structure wherein the point on one prong of the staple is a complementary section of the point .on the other prong of the staple so that the staple may be formed economically.

A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a staple with insulation having openings therein, the sidewalls of the openings being adapted to conform closely to the staple prongs, so as to constitute retaining means for the insulation on the staple.

' A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a staple with protruding portions for retaining insulating material thereon.

A seventh object of the present invention is to provide a staple having a projecting reinforced head formed in part by a continuation of a relatively long prong and Joined to the-shorter prong of the staple by a cross piece and a reinforcing portion.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be obvious from the subsequent description and figures of the drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of a staple;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a second form of staple;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a third form of staple having insulation mounted thereon and positioned about a wire;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the staple of Fla- Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the staple of Fig.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the staple of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the staple of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a fourth form of staple;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a fifth modified form of staple;

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the staple of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a detail of a portion of the staple of Fig. 9, illustrating the mounting of the insulation thereon:

Fig. 12 is a perspective detail of a short prong of the staple of Fig. 9;

Fig. 13 is a section taken along the line ll-|I of Fig. 9;

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the insulation;

Fig. 15 is a somewhat diagrammatic illustration of the method of forming the point structures of the staple.

Fig. 16 is a side elevation of a modified form of staple provided with a projection and an elongated point;

Fig. 17 is a detail of a modified form of driving head for the staple.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, a wire staple is indicated in general at ll, formed of a continuous piece of wire of a substantially rectangular cross section, as indicated in Fig. 13. The staple Ill comprises a relatively long leg or prong ll', anda relatively short leg or prong l2, each provided with a pointed portion indicated by the reference numerals II and i2, respectiveiy.

The prongs II and I2 are connected by a cross piece ll, extending from the upper end of the prong I! at substantially a right angle toward the long prong II. and connected to the long prong by a reinforcing portion II. It will be noted from the drawing'that the portion It lies in substantial parallelism to the upper end of the prong II, and is connected thereto by a curved portion It. The reinforcing portion l5 and the upper end of the prong II extend considerably above the end of the short prong l2 and the cross piece ll to form a driving head.

It will be noted that the driving head is thus substantially positioned over the long prong II, and when the driving head is struck with a hammer, the point I 2 of the prong II will be driven into the molding or other member with which th staple is adapted to be joined.

By providing a shorter pron l2, it is evident that the staple will be driven at the correct angle into a supporting member, and further the long prong ll may be driven into a supporting memher for a considerable distance, and a wire then positioned beneath the staple and more particularly the cross piece ll thereof. The staple shown in Fig. 1 is provided with a projecting portion H, which is adapted to lock in place insulating material, as will hereinafter be pointed out. The shape of the staple and particularly the projecting portion is shown in somewhat greater clarity in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 2, a modified form of staple is here shown, provided with two projecting or locking portions I2 and I! which project outwardly from the outer surface thereof, instead of transversely of the staple as does the projection II. The staple of Fig. 2 is also shown provided with a somewhat different point structure, as indicated at 20 and 2|. In other respects, however, the staple of Fig. 2 is similar to the staple of Fig. 1, being similarly provided with a long prong H, a short prong l2, a cross piece I4, and

a reinforcing portion II, similarly adapted to form a driving head with the upper end of the long staple l I. It will be noted particularly that in both of these modifications of the staple the reinforcing portion II is not only constituted by a portion of the longer prong ii which is bent back on itself, but also lies closely adjacent to the parallel portion of the long prong I I, thus serving to reinforce the same.

In Fig. 3, a modified form of staple is shown provided with two inward projections 22 and 22, the projection 22 extending inwardly from the long leg or prong ll of the staple, while the projection 22 extends inwardly from the short leg or prong l2. As shown in this figure, insulating material 24ismountedoneach leg II and I2 of the staple, and held in position by the projections 22 and 22. In other words, when the insulation is pushed on to the staple, it snaps over or past the projections 22 and 22, and is held firmly be tween the projections and the lower surface of the cross piece M. It is to be understood that prior to mounting on the staple, the insulation 24 is of generally elongated rectangular shape, and is provided with four openings, two of these openings being positioned adjacent one end thereof, and the other two adjacent the other end, the general shape of the insulation being similar to the insulation member disclosed in Fig. 14. In this form of the invention, it is not necessary that the openings be of diiIerent sizes, as they are shown, nor is it necessary that the size of the opening through which the staple is passed is such that the insulation closely conforms to the staple proper, inasmuch as the projections 22 and 22 serve to retain the insulating material on th staple.

As shown in Fig. 3, the insulating material serves to prevent the contact of a wire 25 with the metal staple, and thus prevents cutting of the wire by the staple, and possible short clrcuiting thereof. It is to be understood that insulating material is preferably mounted on the staples disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2, and is held in place similarly by the projections II, II and is, shown in these figures. Thus, in Fig. l, the single projection I! serves to retain the insulating material on the staple, and constitutes retaining or loclring means therefor. Similar projections ll and I! perform the same function.

In Fig. 8, a fourth modified form of staple is shown, having a single transversely extending projection 28. This projection has an entirely similar function to the projections l1, l8, i8, 22 and 23, and it is to be understood that insulating material may be similarly positioned thereabove. It is desired to point out that this modification of the staple is in other ways similar to the previous modification described, having a drivin head formed by a reinforcing portion II, and the upper portion of the long leg or prong H, a cross piece I4, and a short prong or leg l2.

Referring to Fig. 9, a further modified form of staple is here disclosed. In this form of staple a short prong 21 is provided which is largely constituted by a point portion 28. The upper portion of the short prong 21 is connected to a reinforcing portion 29 by a cross piece 20. The reinforcing portion 29 is in turn connected by a neck portion 3| to a long prong 32. It i to be noted that in this modification, the reinforcing portion 29 does not lie closely adjacent to the portion 22, but the portion 29 is in general parallelism therewith, and furnishes a reinforcement therefor, so that the upper portion of the long prong 32 and the reinforcing portion form a driving head for the staple, it being noted that the reinforcing portion 22 and the upper end of the long prong extend substantially above the cross piece 30. The long prong 22 is also provided with a point portion 22. The point portions 33 and 28 are complements of one another.

As illustrated in Fig. 15, when the staples are formed, a long portion and two point portions are cut from a single length of wire. Thus, the point of a short prong is a substantial complement of the point of a long prong on the next staple. Consequently, each short prong and each long prong of the same staple is provided with point portions which are complementary sections of the wire. By forming the staple from wire of a rectangular 'crosssootiomandbypositioningthecutting Plane at an angle thereto, it may be noted that the points of the staple are relatively long and sharp. In order to produce the utmost economy in manufuture, the short prong 21 therefore is constituted mainly by the point portion ll.

As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9, the staple is provided with insulation 34 which is shown in detail in plan view in'Fig. 14, prior to mounting on the staple. fli'he insulating material It is of general rectangular shape, and is provided with a plurality of holes ll, 38, 31 and 38. These holes are each of a-diiferent size. Thus. it may be long prong ll, while the insulating material at the opening it extends transversely across the long prong ii in an angular direction. It may, therefore, be seen that the opening it may be larger than the opening I. and still the insulat- 11 8 material will close y conform to the staple. Inasmuch as the portions of the insulating material cooperating with the short prong are positioned largely over the point portion, as shown in Fig. 9, it is evident that the openings 31 and 38 must be relatively smaller than the openings 35 and It. It is to be noted further, however, that the opening I! here also must be smaller than the opening 38, since the insulating material at the opening 31 will extend at an angle across "the short staple, whereas the insulating material at the opening 38 will extend transversely and substantially perpendicularly to the axis of the short prong.

Although preferably therefore, the staple is provided with means for retaining or looking the insulation in place, this means beingconstituted by the projections II, I8, is, 22, 24 and 28 of the previously described figures, it is evident that the proportioning of the openings 31 and ll and their close fit with the prongs of the staple may also be considered to be means for retaining the insulation on the staple.

It is evident from the foregoing description that 'a staple has been here provided which may be economically manufactured and provided with insulating material which is securely mounted thereon. It is further evident that the forming oi the staple from wire of a rectangular cross section lends itself to the forming of a staple of the particular type set forth, providing for an economically manufactured point structure, and also contributing materially to retainin the insulation on the staple. Thus, referring once again to the form of the staple shown in Figures 9. to 15 inclusive, it will be noted that when the insulation material 34 is mounted on the staple, the corners of the square wire will cut into the round openings formed in the semi-stiff insulating material, and will serve to retain the insulating material securely on the staple.

Referring to Fig. 16, a modified form of staple is here disclosed in side elevation which includes the point structure of Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive and 15, and is also provided with a projection 39 which is adapted to function in a similar manner to the projection ll of Fig. 1 to retain in position insulation such as the insulation 24. It will be noted that the projection 39 of Fig. 16 is on the opposite side of the staple from the projection I1 of Fig. 4. The projection 88 is so positioned because it has been foun that the projection from the slanting point will not lock the insulation satisfactorily in position.

In Fig. 17, there is disclosed a modified form of driving head. The driving head here shown possesses the advantages of the driving head shown for example in Fig. l, but is easier to form than this type of head. l'hus, the head shown in Fig. 17 consists of wire which is bent back on itself, so that. as indicated at it the rebent portion 29 of Fig. 9 lies closely adjacent to the long prong of the staple. This produces a betterr'einfor-cement and a better driving head than that form of staple shown in Figs. 9 to 11 inclusive: this type of driving head, however, is somewhat easier to fabricate than th t shown in Figs. 1 to 8. inclusive.

The present application is a continuation in part of application, Serial No. 233,724, flied 00 tober 7, 1938.

What I claim is:

1. A staple for securing an electrical conductor on a base material, comprising in combination two prong members pointed for piercing said material, one prong being shorter than the other prong, means intermediate the top and bottom of the prongs adapted to assist in looking an insulating strip between the prongs, a cross piece supporting the two prongs, and a head over the longer prong and rising above the cross piece a substantial distance, the staple being formed of a continuous piece of wire of substantially uniform cross section, and having one side folded on itself to form the head. said wire extending substantially at a right angle from the folded bottom portion of the head to form the cross piece having at its end the projecting shorter prong, the end of the wire at the head fold being adjacent the longer prong, and a piece of insulating material locked mtween the prongs.

2. A staple for securing an electrical conductor on a base material, comprising, in combination two prong members pointed for piercing said material, one prong being shorter than the other prong, means intermediate the top and bottom of the prongs adapted to assist in locking an insulating strip between the prongs, a cross piece supporting the two prongs, and a head over the longer prong and rising above the cross piece a substantial distance, the staple bein formed of a continuous piece of wire of substantially uniform cross section, and having one side folded on itself to form. the head, the latter being centered substantially on a line through the side and through the point of the longer prong, said wire extending substantially at a right angle from the folded bottom portion of the head to form the cross piece having at its end the projecting shorter prong, .the end of the wire at the head fold being adjacent the longer prong, and a piece of insulating material locked between the prongs and the cross piece.

3. A staple for securingan electrical conductor on a base material, comprising in combination two prong members pointed for piercing said material, one prong being shorter than the other prong, a projecting member on one of the sides of one of the prongs and positioned intermediate the top and bottom of the prong, said projecting member being adapted to assist in looking an insulating strip between the prongs, a cross piece supporting the two prongs, and a head over the longer prong and rising above the cross piece a substantial distance, the staple being formed of a continuous piece of wire of substantially uniform cross section, and having one side folded on itself to form the head, the latter being centered substantially on a line through the side and through the point of the longer prong, said wire extending substantially at a right angle from the folded bottom portion of the head to form the cross piece having at its end the projecting shorter prong, the end of the wire at the head fold being adjacent the longer prong, and a piece of insulating material locked between the prongs and the cross piece, said insulating material being provided with apertures through which at least one of said prongs pass.

4. A staple formed of a continuous piece of wire of substantially uniform cross section adapted to support and look a member between the prongs thereof, said staple comprising two spaced prongs pointed for piercing material, one of said pnongs being longer than the other, a shoulder intermediate the top and bottom of at least one of the prongs adapted to assist in locking, said member on the staple, a head over the longer prong formed from a portion of the wire of the longer prong folded on itself in substantial parallelism with the main portion of the longer prong and lying adjacent the same, and a cross piece connecting the two prongs integral with the head and prongs and extending at substantially a right angle from the lower end of the folded over portion of said head and in substantially the same plane therewith, said head rising above said cross piece a substantial distance.

5. A staple formed of a continuous piece of wire of substantially uniform adapted to support and lock a member between the prongs thereof, said staple comprising two spaced prongs pointed for piercing material, one of said prongs being longer than the other, a shoulder intermediate the top and bottom of at least one of the prongs adapted to assist in locking said member on the staple, a head over the longer prong formed from a portion of the wire of the longer prong folded on itself in substantial parallelism with the main portion of the longer prong and lying adjacent the same, and a cross piece connecting the two prongs integral with the head and prongs and extending at substantially a right angle from the lower end of the folded over portion of said head and in substantially the same plane therewith, said head rising above said cross piece a substantial distance and centered substantially on a line through the side and through the point of the longer prong.

6. A staple formed from a single piece of wire having a substantially rectangular cross section and comprising a relatively long prong member and a relatively short prong member, each of said prong members being provided with a point portion complementary to the other point portion, each of said point portions being substantially defined by two adjacent sides of the rectangular wireand a plane extending upwardly at an acute angle from the Junction of said sides, a cross piece extending from the upper end of said short prong member toward said long prong member, and a reinforcing portion extending upwardly from said cross piece to the upper end of said long prong, said reinforcing portion and the upper end of said long prong thereby constituting a driving head above the short prong and cross piece.

7. A staple formed from a single piece of wire having a substantially rectangular cross section cross section asaasea and comprising a relatively long prong member and, a relatively short prong memtr, each of said prong members being provided with a point portion complementary to the other point portion, each of said point portions being substantially defined by two adjacent sides of the rectangular wire and a plane extending upwardly at an acute angle from the Junction of said sides, a cross piece extending fromthe upper end of said short prong member toward said long prong member, a reinforcing portion extending upwardly from said cross piece to the upper end of said long prong, said reinforcing portion and the upper end of said long prong thereby constituting a driving head above the short prong and cross piece, and a piece of insulating material extending about the prongs and beneath the cross piece.

8. A staple for securing an electrical conductor on a base material comprising in combination two prong members pointed for piercing said material, one prong being shorter than the other prong and the longer prong being substantially straight, a cross piece supporting the two prongs, and a head over the longer prong and rising over the cross piece a substantial distance, the staple being formed of a continuous piece of wire of a non-circular cross section, and having one side folded on itself to form the head, said wire extending substantially at a right angle from the folded bottom of the head to form the cross piece having at its end the projecting shorter prong, the end of the wire at the head fold being adapted to connect the longer prong and the cross piece and form a reinforcing portion for the head, and a piece of insulating material locked between the prongs and the cross piece, said insulating material being provided with apertures through which said prongs pass, said cross piece, reinforcing portion, and prongs being connected essentially by simple coplanar bent portions.

9. A staple formed from a single piece of wire having a substantially rectangular cross section and comprising a relatively long prong member and a relatively short prong member, each of said prong members being provided with a point portion complementary to the other point portion, a cross piece extending from the upper end of said short prong member toward said long prongv member, a reinforcing portion extending upwardly from said cross piece to the upper end of said long prong, said reinforcing portion and the upper end of said long prong thereby constituting a driving head above the short prong and cross piece, and a piece of insulating material extending about the prongs and beneath the cross piece,

said insulating material being provided with one pair of openings substantially conforming in size to the short prong, and a second pair of openings substantially conforming in size to said long prong, said cross piece, reinforcing portion, and prongs being connected essentially by simple coplanar bent portions.

10. A staple formed from a single piece of wire having a substantially rectangular cross section and comprising a relatively long prong member and a relatively short prong member, each of said prong members being provided with a point portion complementary to the other point portion, a cross piece extending from the upper end of said short prong member toward said lon prong member, a reinforcing portion extending upwardly from said cross piece to the upper end of said long prong, said reinforcing portion and the upper end of said long prong thereby constituting a driving head above the short prong and cross piece, and a piece of insulating material extending underneath the cross piece and provided with a plurality of openings through which the long and short prongs of the staple are passed, certain of said openings being larger than the others in order to permit free passage of the staple prongs therethrough, said cross piece, reinforcing portion, and prongs being connected essentially by simple coplanar bent portions.

11. A staple formed from a single piece of wire having a substantially rectangular cross section and comprising a relatively long prong member and a relatively short prong member, each of said prong members being provided with a point portion complementary to the other point portion, a cross piece extending from the upper end of said short prong member toward said long prong member, a reinforcing portion extending upwardly from said cross piece to the upper end of said long prong, said reinforcing portion and the upper end of said long prong thereby constituting a driving head above the short prong and cross piece, and a piece of insulating material extending about the prongs and beneath the cross piece, said insulating material being provided with two pairs of openings generally conforming in size to the long and short prongs, the

lower of said openings being smaller than the upper of said openings, said cross piece, reinforcing portion, and prongs being connected essentially by simple coplanar bent portions.

12. A staple formed from a single piece of wire having a substantially rectangular cross section and comprising a relatively long prong member and a relatively short prong member, a cross piece extending from the upper end of said short prong member toward said long prong member, a reinforcing portion extending upwardly from said cross piece to the upper end of said long prong, said reinforcing portion and the upper end of said long prong thereby constituting a driving head above the short prong and cross piece, and a piece of insulating material extending about the prongs at a plurality of points, said insulating material and prongs having a driven fit relative to one another to thereby lock the insulating material on the prongs by the pressure of the insulating material, the material having been originally provided with openings of a slightly smaller size than the size of the wire extending through the said material when assembled, said cross piece, reinforcing portion, and prongs being connected essentially by simple coplanar bent portions.

LEO WEISS. 

